It is cold. We all know how I feel about the cold. It turns me into a complete crankpot. It makes me think about my retirement and how it will include living in a tropical or at the very least temperate location. I grumble a lot in this weather and I don't like it. It makes being grateful really really hard. The other evening, I stood up to leave my therapist's office and remembered that I had to put my coat on. I said "Oh.. I have to put on my coat." I caught the tone of my voice and felt a little ugly. So I changed it and said "I get to put on my coat." I was all proud of myself with that one until my therapist said "I have a coat to put on." I felt a little smacked in the face with that one.

Yes, she is right. I have a coat to put on when the weather is cold. That is truly something to be grateful for when there are so many who do not have coats or warm clothes or money to pay for heat. It started me thinking. I do not have a spare coat to give, but I was wondering if I could buy a coat. There are plenty of coats in thrift stores. What if I purchased three coats from a thrift store and then donated them a homeless shelter? Sure, they're used coats, but I'm working within my financial means. Coats, maybe a few blankets. This something simple I can do to help those less fortunate. This is gratitude in action. 

Josephine is another year older and another minute more hilarious. I came home yesterday to find that she had pulled one of the house plants clean out of the pot. I don't know where the plant is. All that remains is the empty pot and a trail of dirt leading out through the kitchen. She keeps us on our toes. We took her with us to Melissa's for Thanksgiving. It was a house full of people and little kids and food. Josephine maneuvered her way around the rooms like a party pro. She was polite and loving and so good. I was so proud of her. Then she slept all the way home and well into the next day. I am thankful for our little dog. 

She keeps my feet warm. 

I'm thankful for warm coats. I am thankful for little dogs. I am thankful for quiet evenings and good health. I am thankful that friends in California are safe, though displaced. I am thankful for you.